Container



Mmmh 7 1196? R. A. BAMBURG CONTAINER 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Sept. 28, 1965 INVENTOR. ROBERT/4. BAMBURG A TJ'ORNEV March 7,, 11967 R. A. BAMBURG CONTAINER v 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Sept 28, 1965 1 INVENTOR. ROBERT ABAMBU/PG A TTORNEI United States Patent 3,307,769 CONTAINER Robert A. Bamburg, West Monroe, La., assignor to Olin Mathieson Chemical Corporation, a corporation of Virginia Filed Sept. 28, 1965, Ser. No. 490,811 3 Claims. (Cl. 22945) The present invention relates to containers and relates in particular to containers useful for packaging perishables such as poultry.

A particular feature of the present invention is the provision of a novel lock device for securing a cover or closure to the body of a container.

A further feature of the present invention is the provision of a novel end wall structure in the container body and in the container cover operative when the container is in a closed position to effect a simple yet reliable locking device.

A container embracing certain features of the present invention may comprise a body portion and a cover portion, each having multi-ply telescoping end walls, an exterior locking panel hinged to one end wall of the body portion, an interior locking panel hinged to an end wall of the cover portion, said exterior panel being formed with at least one generally horizontal slit, said interior locking panel being formed with a-t least one mating generally horizontal slot, fastening means disposed below the slit operative to compress a lower margin of said slit eifective to cause a recess to develop in the planar face of said exterior panel, and further effective to expose an upper margin of said slit, said interior panel being fixed at its upper end to the cover portion effective to cause a lower margin of said slot to project beyond the planar surface of said interior panel so that when said cover and body portions are in a closed position with the respective multi-ply end walls in telescoping relationship, the upper margin of said slit overrides the lower margin of said slot to lock the cover portion to the body portion.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from an examination of the succeeding specification when read in conjunction with the appended drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a blank from which the body portion of the container is erected;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the cover portion blank;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the body portion of the container with certain phantom lines showing steps in erecting the bottom portion;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the cover portion partially erected;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the closed container; and

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a portion of FIG. 5 showing details of the lock device in the closed position.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, in particular to FIGS. 1 and 2, the reference number 10 designates the body portion blank having a bottom panel 11, side walls 12 and 13, end walls 14 and 16.

Hinged to side wall 13 by means of score lines 17 and 18 are handle panels 19 and 21 formed with hand cutout 22 and 23.

Handle panels 24 and 26 are hinged to side wall 12 by score lines 27 and 28.

Handle panels 24 and 26 are also formed with hand openings 29 and 31.

End wall 16 is hinged to an exterior-locking panel 32 by means of a ledged panel 33 defined and bounded by score lines 34 and 36.

Exterior locking panel 32 is formed with two through cuts or slits 37 and 38 which are disposed in a generally "ice horizontal position when the body portion is fabricated to the erect position.

Correspondingly, end wall panel 14 is hinged to a second exterior locking panel 39 by means of ledged panel 41 defined and bounded by score lines 42 and 43.

Exterior locking pane-1 39 is also formed with through cuts or slits 44 and 46.

The reference numeral 47 represents liquid drain openings.

Referring now in more detail to FIG. 2, the cover portion blank is indicated generally by the reference number 48 and includes a top panel 49', hinged side wall panels 51 and 52, each having anchor flaps 53-53 and 5454 hinged to their opposed ends by means of score lines 56-56 and 57-57.

The reference numerals 58 and 59 designate multi-ply end walls hinged to the top panel by score lines 61 and 62. The end wall 59 includes an end panel 63 hinged to an interior locking panel 64 by means of score line 66.

Locking panel 64 is formed with slots 67 and 68. Panel 64 is also formed with three anchor tabs 69 operative to project into mating tab slots 71 in a manner which will become more apparent as this specification proceeds.

For convenience in claiming the invention and to avoid confusion, the language slit as used herein, representations of which appear in FIG. 1 at 37, 38, 44 and 46, is intended to denote a through cut or through slit. In contrast, the language slot, representations of which are shown at 67 and 68 in FIG. 2, is intended to designate an elongated opening having been generated in the blank by the removal of board material.

End wall 58 is generally of the same configuration as wall 59 in that reference numeral 72 denotes an interior locking panel hinged to an end panel 73 in turn hinged to the top panel 49, as indicated by the score lines.

Interior locking panel 72 is formed with slots 7474 and with anchor tabs 7676 cooperating with anchor slots 7777.

Referring now to FIGS. 3 through 6, the body blank 10 is fabricated into the body porti-on of the container by rotating side walls 12 and 13 and end wall 14 and 16 to the position shown in FIG. 3.

Next, handle panels 21-26 and 19-24 are rotated about their respective score lines into an overlapping position, such as shown in FIG. 5; these handle panels are disposed outwardly of their respective end wall panels,

Exterior locking panels 32 and 39 are then rotated downwardly to overlay the handle panels and ledge panels 33 and 41 form a narrow flat surface at the top of each end wall structure.

Next, a fastening means such as a wire staple or stitch 7878 is applied to the lower margin of the slits 37, 38, 44 and 46 effective to crush or compress the panels sandwiched between the staple to generate a hollow or recess in the lower margin as is most apparent in FIG. 6.

For example, in FIG.- 6, staple 78 embraces a sandwich of panels comprising end wall panel 16, handle panels 19 and 24 plus lower margin 79 of exterior locking panel 32 with the result that an upper margin of exterior locking panel provides an abutment or shoulder identified by reference number 8181.

The cover blank of FIG. 2 is fabricated by rotating side walls 51 and 52 to the position shown in FIG. 4 and the anchor flaps 53 and 54 are rotated inwardly to the position shown at the rear of FIG. 4 and and subsequently, end panels 63 and 73 are rotated to a vertical position; next, interior locking panels 64 and 73 are rotated downwardly to overlay the anchor flaps and anchor tabs 6969 and 76-76 are tucked into their respective tab slots 71-71 and 7777.

The result of this occurrence is to dispose slots 67-68 and 7474 in a generally horizontal position with the one margin of the slot (the margin adjacent the anchor tab) being bowed inwardly while the opposite margin tends to bow outwardly so that when the cover portion is telescoped over the body portion of the container, the projecting margin of the slots 6768 and 74-74 snaps into locking abutment with the corresponding margins on the exterior locking panels of the body portions.

For example, referring to FIG. 6, note that anchor tab 76 is received in its mating tab slot 77 effective to move or bow upper margin 82 of slot 74 to the right relative to outwardly bowed lower margin 83 so that in the locked position upper margin 81 of the exterior locking panel is in locking position relative to the lower margin 83 of interior locking panel.

Obviously, the locking structure associated with body portion slits 37, 38, 44 and 46 operates in identical fashion relative to slots 67, 68 and 74-74 for-med in the cover portion.

It is anticipated that a wide variety of modifications may be devised in the container of the present invention without departing from the appearance of a like device of the present invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A locking device for a container comprising a body portion having opposed end walls, a cover portion including a top wall and opposed end walls complementary to corresponding walls of the body portion, an exterior locking panel hinged to one end wall of the body portion and an interior locking panel hinged to a mating end wall of the cover portion, said exterior locking panel being formed with at least one generally horizontal, through slit, stitch means disposed below said slit operative to compress said one end wall and said exterior locking panel whereby an upper margin of said slit projects beyond the planar face of said compressed exterior locking panel, a slot formed in said interior locking panel disposed generally horizontally and in register with said slit, an upper margin of said interior locking panel being fixed to said top wall effective to cause a lower margin of said slot to project or bow inwardly beyond the planar face of said interior locking panel, said locking panels being in face-to-face contact when the cover portion is in place on the body portion with the upper margin of said slit overriding the lower margin of said slot operative to lock the cover to the container.

2. In a container device including a body portion and a cover portion, each having multi-ply telescoping end Walls, the improvement comprising an exterior locking panel hinged to the body portion and an interior locking panel hinged to the cover portion, said exterior looking panel being formed with at least one generally horizontal slit, said interior locking panel being formed with at least one mating generally horizontal slot, fastener means disposed below the slit operative to compress a lower margin of said slit effective to cause a recess in the planar face of said exterior panel, said interior panel being fixed at its upper end to the cover portion effective to cause the lower margin of said slot to project beyond the planar surface of said interior locking panel so that when said cover and body portion are in the closed position, said margins override one another to lock the cover portion to the body portion,

3. The container device of claim 2 wherein the fastener means comprises a metal staple.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,456,841 12/1948 Rushing 229 2,711,282 6/1955 DEsposito 229 45 2,809,775 10/1957 White 229 34 3,018,940 1/1962 Deline 229-45 JOSEPH R. LECLAIR, Primary Examiner.

R. PESHOCK, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A LOCKING DEVICE FOR A CONTAINER COMPRISING A BODY PORTION HAVING OPPOSED END WALLS, A COVER PORTION INCLUDING A TOP WALL AND OPPOSED END WALLS COMPLEMENTARY TO CORRESPONDING WALLS OF THE BODY PORTION, AN EXTERIOR LOCKING PANEL HINGED TO ONE END WALL OF THE BODY PORTION AND AN INTERIOR LOCKING PANEL HINGED TO A MATING END WALL OF THE COVER PORTION, SAID EXTERIOR LOCKING PANEL BEING FORMED WITH AT LEAST ONE GENERALLY HORIZONTAL, THROUGH SLIT, STITCH MEANS DISPOSED BELOW SAID SLIT OPERATIVE TO COMPRESS SAID ONE END WALL AND SAID EXTERIOR LOCKING PANEL WHEREBY AN UPPER MARGIN OF SAID SLIT PROJECTS BEYOND THE PLANAR FACE OF SAID COMPRESSED EXTERIOR LOCKING PANEL, A SLOT FORMED IN SAID INTERIOR LOCKING PANEL DISPOSED GENERALLY HORIZONTALLY AND IN REGISTER WITH SAID SLIT, AN UPPER MARGIN OF SAID INTERIOR LOCKING PANEL BEING FIXED TO SAID TOP WALL EFFECTIVE TO CAUSE A LOWER MARGIN OF SAID SLOT TO PROJECT OR BOW INWARDLY BEYOND THE PLANAR FACE OF SAID INTERIOR LOCKING PANEL, SAID LOCKING PANELS BEING IN FACE-TO-FACE CONTACT WHEN THE COVER PORTION IS IN PLACE ON THE BODY PORTION WITH THE UPPER MARGIN OF SAID SLIT OVERRIDING THE LOWER MARGIN OF SAID SLOT OPERATIVE TO LOCK THE COVER TO THE CONTAINER. 